


At least I'll be free..

by AnonWerewolf



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:48:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24962539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonWerewolf/pseuds/AnonWerewolf
Summary: "I go through all this, before you wake up. So I can feel happier and be safe up here with you".Because when you're a werewolf, you need more than true love.I wrote this fanfic for everyone that has to work so hard at being "normal".Reference to Bjork's "Hyperballad".
Relationships: Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am a werewolf and my baby inherited their lycanthropy from me. I approach Remadora from a chronic illness and disability angle as well as the perspective from someone who has worked in a very male dominated environment. I try to stay as close to canonical as possible and give more background to Lupin and Tonks' developing relationship and their eventual legacy. 
> 
> My aim is to keep this fic PG rated. I'm a swearybear personally but I've taken it all out in here.
> 
> The title comes from a song by Broods called "Free". I had it in my mind a lot while writing.

"No ministry!" growled Madeye. "Nothing personal there Arthur but it's too risky."  
"I'm sure I can handle..." started Arthur, but Madeye interrupted.  
"We can't risk any ministry employees. Not ‘til she's proven we can trust her."  
"You know her well though?" asked Molly.  
"As well as any I've trained. She's one of the better ones. Most are good at technique but ruddy useless outside of that. She's a bit less useless. Good at getting into trouble, mind, but better at getting out of it. That counts for a fair bit in this line of work."  
"I'll do it." said Remus. The others looked over at him and he gave a half shrug. “I’ll not be employed by the ministry anytime soon.” he added.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was beautiful summer morning. Even for this part of Wales, renowned for its dramatic landscapes, haunting beauty and revolting weather. The meeting point he'd suggested, an abandoned stone church halfway up a winding hill road, was cool and shaded despite the sunny weather. He probably should have worn his travelling cloak, but he had been using it a lot lately and needed it to last as long as possible. Who knew when he'd come by the funds for a new one? But there were more important things on his mind today than clothing and the briskness he felt amongst the shadows was refreshing, he decided. He stepped quietly through to the small woodland behind the church to wait.

Madeye had given him a little background to his latest recruit. A young Auror, a protege of his. Part muggle-born but also with familial connections to an ancient, high-profile wizarding family. She had shown the technical aptitude that Madeye expected amongst the Aurors he trained but also an empathy and a manner of speaking frankly which he was concerned was going to be a liability to the Order. He was already concerned that it was going to cause her problems at the ministry. Madeye had arranged a couple of tests, including this one with Remus in a quiet part of the country. 

Remus kept hidden amongst the small woodland, collecting wild mushrooms. It made a good ruse. It could also make a good lunch. Like many werewolves, he was struggling for funds these days and foraging supplemented a meagre and sporadic income. His mother had loved walking in the Welsh countryside, and he learnt much about the forests after spending a lot of time with her in them as a child. 

It was almost time. In his alert state he stopped still and listened carefully to a new sound. A faint whine of a muggle vehicle in the distance. He was not concerned with crossing paths with either muggles or the magical this morning. This part of Wales was off the main tourist routes and distant enough from the nearest village. He hoped there had been no issues getting the plans. Emmeline from the Ministry Records Office had been an enormous asset to the Order. One of the original Order recruits and one of their best strategic recruits within the ministry.

Remus looked down and saw a small muggle motorcycle pulling up to the church. Frustrated he checked the time again. Of all the luck a muggle tourist would show up now. He had his instructions on how to call off the drop but still had a couple of minutes. He hoped that the muggle would move on from the church quickly. Although photogenic there was not much else to the church or its location. He watched the muggle dismount and remove their helmet. The sun caught the rider's hair and with a shock Remus noticed the bright pink colour that Madeye had told him to expect. He now kicked himself for underestimating this new generation of Aurors. The ones he remembered from school had been the brightest and the best - well above learning muggle skills like driving or wearing muggle clothing like jeans and leather jackets - that was more Sirius' style. 

He quickly started down the rocky path through the woodland to the church, slipping on some loose rocks. She looked up at the noise and he slowed down. He needed to be cautious. He needed to stick to the plan. As per usual, Moody had been quite specific for this test. A non-ministry member of the Order, a quiet and remote location, no disguises, no names and they must talk but to keep it brief. Moody was known for his pedantism and the Order humoured him. It hadn't hurt any of them to follow his instructions and typically he had a well thought out reason for them when challenged. He wondered if jeans, leather jacket and the motorbike counted as a disguise in Moody's books. He might check that one with him later. 

He kept to the shadows of the woodland path as he approached the ruined church. She knew he was there and had moved closer to where he would exit the woods. Remus carefully and quietly exited from the shade. She smiled at him and knelt beside a grave. Remus stepped closer until he was standing next to her. "Wotcher" she said, and Remus smiled at the East London accent. It did not sound very Auror. "Dydd Da" he replied, strengthening his usual mild Welsh accent for her in response. 

Standing next to her, Remus started to feel self-conscious. For the past six months, he'd mainly met either fellow werewolves or other members of the Order. All werewolves were suffering from the entrenched poverty imposed by the lack of work opportunities available to them. As for members of the Order, he barely felt scruffy next to Sirius these days and Mundungus in particular made him look dashing in comparison. Mending his worn clothes had been a priority as a teacher, but as a forager, a werewolf and a member of the Order, they'd been sorely neglected. 

"Do not go gentle" she started. Remus finished for her "into that good night". Remus had selected the code phrase for this meeting. Kingsley and Madeye were happy enough to use it, having never heard the poem. It had not been well known amongst wizards but had been one of his mother's favourites. She unzipped her jacket and handed him a squashed bunch of wildflowers. Remus took the flowers and tucked them into his robes. She looked down at the neglected gravestone in front of them, picked a wildflower growing near the grave and laid it on top. "I hope you had a long and happy life" she said, as she brushed vines carefully from the gravestone to expose the lettering 'Taken tragically at 25yrs'. 

"Well... Hopefully a happy one then", said Remus with a half-smile. It was time to get out of there. He needed to get the flowers home and transfigure them back to their original state. Dumbledore would like to know the plans were safe. He wanted them reviewed by someone external to the ministry and Remus was good with maps.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tonks' recruitment begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little known fact is that Madeye briefly returned to a quill-pushing job at the Auror office after his time trapped in the trunk during Book 4. The Auror office was suffering from a lack of decent operations organisers and also wanted to see if they could learn anything about Barty Crouch from him. Madeye was going to tell them exactly where to stick their job offer when Dumbledore had a quiet word with him and convinced Madeye to take the job.

The job was a success and Tonks was furious. She wrenched the door to the Auror office open and walked straight to the organiser of the op. "That was the most disgusting thing I've ever been involved in. It was wrong Madeye. It was evil and wrong and it's revolting."  
"You did exactly what the ministry asked you to do. We don't decide the rules here, we assist with their enforcement", he replied gruffly.  
"We're enforcing rot Madeye. That was a trumped-up arrest if I’ve ever seen one! If that’s what we need to be enforcing I don't think I can...". She started.  
Moody cut her off. "We toe the ministry line in this office. If you don’t like it then you can go do something else." Madeye raised his voice angrily.  
Moody looked past her shoulder and Tonks turned her head to see Kingsley Shacklebolt standing there. She was surprised as he was on special Auror projects and had very little to do with Moody's operations work in the Auror office. It was also common knowledge amongst the Aurors that the two men detested each other.

"I need Tonks for a minute, Madeye - looking for some info from her". Tonks was not in the mood, he only ever came to ask her about her mad evil extended family. The one she knew very little about anyway. "Can it wait?" she snapped.

"No." said Kingsley in his deep voice. Madeye glared at her. Fine, she thought angrily, let him watch me toe the ministry line and do my damn job then, and she strode off with Kingsley.  
"Walk with me." said Kingsley.  
Tonks rolled her eyes. He'd done this to her once before, walked around showing off to other ministry employees about how he was leading the hunt for her unhinged murderous cousin. Sure enough they walked the corridors, occasionally popping into an office here or there. Checking the Magical Records Office for some obscure reference to Sirius Black amongst the gobstone championship league tables. The tall, stately witch there telling him snootily that there was no information about gobstones, league championship notwithstanding, held at the ministry. Their final stop was for Kingsley to bully a friendly red-haired bloke in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office about some tedious report he reckoned he needed about flying vehicles.

As she walked, she started to calm herself. She had to look at what to do next. She was deeply unhappy with what she had been asked to do. It looked to her that Moody went deliberately out of his way to give her a job he knew she wouldn't agree with and was well below her skills. She'd worked hard at her job and felt that she was getting better at it, but maybe she'd be better off making a difference to the laws rather than enforcing them. The thought of sitting in an office all day though... 

"What info are you looking for Kingsley?" she asked finally after the bloke in the muggles office told them to bugger off.  
"I need to ask you about motorbikes." he said as he stepped into a broom closet.

It was a broom closet she knew well. It was the one all Aurors used to apparate quickly when called out on a job. Within minutes they were in a muggle motorbike parts shop. The workshop next door randomly making loud noises. She was used to this, her uncle was a mechanic and she’d grown up around the corner from his workshop.  
Kingsley walked over to one of the shelves of bike parts and she followed him. "What if I were to tell you that some wizards and witches feel the same way as you about things." he said quietly.

"I'd think them highly sensible." snorted Tonks.

"What if I were to tell you that some of us are doing more than thinking and shouting but were actually doing something about it." said Kingsley  
There was a pause while she watched Kingsley's face. She couldn't make out what he might be wanting from her but she had one thing she wanted to do and was astounded that the Aurors weren't doing more of it. She looked him straight in the eyes. "Are we talking about catching Death Eaters?" she asked breathlessly.

Kinglsey stared straight back at her without saying a word.

"I want in." said Tonks quietly.

Kingsley's face remained steady "It won't be easy. You will find yourself against your friends, against your family, against the ministry and putting yourself into incredible danger". Tonks nodded, thinking his words through. She had barely any contact with her large extended wizarding family, had recently had a falling out with her friends and felt like she was increasingly at odds with what the ministry was asking her to do at her job. Besides, she was trained for this.

"Can I help you with anything?" asked the muggle shop owner.

Once they had left the shop after briefly listening to the views of the shop owner over the use of mufflers on motorbikes, Kingsley turned to her. "Thankyou Ms Tonks. I'll have some more jobs for you over the next few days". Tonks understood. She was now going to be tested. 

She hoped she could trust him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Recruitment continues but Tonks is having doubts until Kingsley arranges the final task.

Over the next week, Kingsley requested Tonks assistance several jobs. Madeye was cranky about it but he had to free her up to assist him. The search for Sirius was still a big focus for the ministry and Kingsley had specifically requested her assistance. She delivered a roll of parchment from Kinglsey to a man poorly disguised as a tramp in remote Wales, met a young, beautiful witch in the Leaky Cauldron and took a small bag from her back to Kingsley's office. And trailed a crook that was trying to offload a bunch of fake dark magic trinkets.

She wasn't sure how long these tests were going to last. She hoped she was doing the right thing. She didn't talk to anyone about Kingsley's tasks except Kingsley himself and let him make the excuses to Madeye. Madeye was getting nosy though. She'd caught him trying to track her when she was trailing the crook, despite her disguise, and he kept trying to catch her out with tricky questions. She held her nerve and enjoyed the feeling of getting back at Madeye for the horrific op he'd given her previously. But her doubts about what she was doing grew.   
She decided to confront Kingsley one afternoon during a visit from the broom closet, "How do I know you're really who you say you are? I'm doing all this to further a cause I don't fully understand." Kingsley nodded. "I will show you but if you want to back out you must do it now. Once I show you, there will be no backing out. Too much is at stake."

"Are you threatening me?" asked Tonks.

"Yes. " said Kingsley. "Do you want to know?"

"If you are who you say are and stand for what you say you stand for, then yes. But.." said Tonks.  
"You don't trust me yet." said Kingsley. "I'll arrange something."

His next job for her was not for another week. She had to collect a book from the Ministry Records Office and take it to a pub in Scotland. The Hogshead was one she remembered from her Hogwarts days and, like most students, she'd been there once out of curiousity and not returned. The book was a dusty children’s book. She was unimpressed and hoped she wasn’t being sent on a fools errand. She had thought that catching death eaters would be more interesting.  
Book in hand, disguised as a birthday card, she walked into the Hogshead. It looked as grim as she remembered. The bartender nodded to her as she entered and inclined his head to a booth towards the back. There were very few others in the pub. It was exactly how she remembered.  
Tonks cautiously moved to the booth. Sitting there was Albus Dumbledore.

"Nymphadora Tonks, it is good to see you again my dear. Care to join me for a drink?" he said. Tonks was taken aback by this casual friendliness of her previous headmaster. She let him order a gilly water and tonic from the bar for her. "I see you have my book," said Dumbledore. "Thankyou. This will be very helpful. I leant it to the ministry some years back and am happy to finally have it returned." They sipped at their drinks quietly. Eventually Dumbledore said "We've been watching your progress at the ministry. We've all been impressed."

"We?" asked Tonks. “I’ve only ever dealt with Kingsley at the ministry.”

"Oh no. Not just one ministry person, but we're a bit careful with recruitment. I'm sure you'll understand how it is. You'll meet them all shortly. We'll let you know in the usual way."

"I don't know how that is." said Tonks.

"You'll know." he said "If you'll excuse me now." He finished the last of his drink, stood up and left.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tonks meets the Order.

The next week she was working late, catching up on tasks that were behind since she started doing odd jobs for Kingsley. Madeye was still in a foul mood with her and wanted a particular a report finished by tomorrow. Kingsley dropped a fast food menu on her desk as he passed her on the way out. Ten minutes later she was puzzled and standing outside the fast food restaurant in North London. Within 30 seconds Kingsley strolled past her and, without even looking in her direction, dropped something on the ground. She picked up the button that had landed near her feet and started following him from a short distance behind. She carefully tracked him a short distance to a street of terraced houses opposite a grim fenced lawn where he had stopped. "Excuse me sir, you dropped this", she said, coming closer to him. He nodded at her, took a piece of parchment from his pocket and handed it to her. She understood and read the address on the parchment. In front of her stood another house. She followed Kingsley up the steps.

The entrance hall was dark. "Be careful and keep quiet "said Kinglsey cautiously. "I'll be introducing you to everyone tonight." Tonks carefully followed Kingsley through the hall, concentrating hard so as not to bump into anything, and alert for what might come next. At the end of the hall Kingsley swung open a door and strode in. Tonks, following him, tripped immediately over a chair leg and landed on top of the friendly red-haired wizard from the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office. "I'm so sorry." she said as he awkwardly helped her to her feet. A witch handed her a plate and shook her hand, "Hi. I'm Molly. Arthur's wife." she said pointedly, indicating the red-haired man she'd just landed on. Tonks turned back to Arthur "Hi", she said. " You all right? That was so clumsy of me."

Looking around the kitchen table she was surprised to see how many of the witches and wizards in front of her she recognised. There was Dumbledore, of course. And she knew Professor Snape from her time at school. With a start she recognised Sirius Black who was shaking Kingsley's hand as Kingsley took a seat next to him. That was unexpected. She resolved to ask Kingsley about it later. The stately witch from the Ministry Records Office was there. As was the crook she'd trailed, the man poorly disguised as a tramp, who was either still poorly disguised or always dressed this shabbily, a young re-haired man she vaguely recognised from school and finally Madeye Moody. "Madeye!" she exclaimed "You absolute rotter! What happened to toeing the ministry line?" "Nymphadora." he nodded at her in greeting. "Tonks, please." she said to everyone as she took a seat. Snape stood up to leave. "Leaving our hospitality so soon?" asked Sirius. "I have prior engagement." said Snape and he left without a further word.

"Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, Tonks,", said Kingsley and he introduced everyone quickly by name. She smiled. "Thanks everyone. Was just so relieved to learn there are people trying to fix things and not just bury their heads in the sand. I'm here to help. What can I do?"

"You're an Auror?" Asked the young red-haired guy. Bill, she thought she heard.

"Yes - fully trained now. Completed two years ago under Madeye."

"Aurors are very useful." said Dumbledore. "Kingsley's been giving false information to the ministry on Sirius whereabouts for the past year. Madeye has been managing recruitment for us. You also have some talents that will be very useful."

Tonks smiled, knowing exactly what he was referring too, but didn't reply. "What normally happens at meetings?" she asked

"Well, Molly normally feeds us all," said Arthur - nodding to his wife. "You all need a proper meal," she said "can't have any of you wasting away while trying to get rid of death eaters and you-know-who.” She appeared to be directing her remark to the shabbily dressed man at the end of the table. He did look somewhat peaky compared to when she last saw him in Wales. She realised she’d missed his name in the introductions. 

"And Snape updates us with any information he has about the death eaters", said Bill

“I update with info and data from the ministry and include anything those who've been in the field have to add”, said the stately witch, Emmeline, from the Ministry Records Office.

"The rest of us put together plans for operations. Snape doesn't hear those. Best he doesn't considering the company he keeps. He's our eyes into the other camp." said Kingsley.

"And I do the dishes afterwards." said Sirius. A bit snippily she thought.

Tonks listened carefully to their plans. One involved the ministry and keeping a look out for anyone trying to break into the Mysteries division. The plans she'd taken to Wales were laid out, the key from the pouch she passed from the young woman back to Kingsley was shown to Arthur. She was pleased her efforts had paid off already. She wondered about the crook she had trailed. She caught his eye and he looked at her sulkily. "That was a great business opportunity you ruined for me there missy." "For you own good 'Dung. We can't have you getting arrested by the ministry," said Kingsley. "They were too close to busting that particular business opportunity.”

Covering logistics was tricky. Most had day jobs and needed to keep them. There was talk of trying to get the shabbily dressed man, Remus - she'd finally caught his name again, a job as a night watch or in maintenance but there was some sort of issue with him obtaining employment at the ministry. Using Sirius Black was out of the question and he was told so by no less than Madeye, Kingsley and finally Dumbledore before he gave up asking. In the end she offered to do a good half of the night shifts but Madeye was going to have to cover her absence in the Auror office. The remainder would be spread around the other ministry employed wizards and witches.

The next problem they had was getting information on the extent, number and activity of death eaters. Emmeline from the Ministry Records Office rolled out a large number of parchments with all the information they had on all the people Harry had named as death eaters. She’d pulled together some interesting data on the work colleagues of known death eaters at the ministry and added it to each profile.

"We got some great information from Harry Potter at the end of last year." said Remus to Tonks.

"How's he doing?" asked Sirius. "Has anybody checked?"

"We're keeping an eye on him Sirius" said Dumbledore. "We know he's safe.

"Yeah but he'll be wanting to know what's going on. It's not great sitting around being left in the dark and feeling useless". replied Sirius. Looking at her mother’s cousin she could see a slight resemblance to her mother. The dark hair and eyes. The cheekbones. Whereas she took after her Dad in looks. Well, most of the time.

One of the jobs was watching a suspected death eater house over the weekend to look for visits from some of their previous ministry colleagues. Trying to find people for this task was not easy given the number of tasks they were trying to cover. Once again there seemed to be an issue with Remus working on the weekend. She briefly wondered what it was he did do. Kinsgley thought he could manage it if he could hold off on planting more misinformation about Sirius for a few days. He was still dealing with the fallout with that erroneous report of a sighting at the gobstone league championships. 

Lastly, they got to the updates on other creatures. Bill covered off on the goblins, Dumbledore updated with news from Hagrid on the giants and then everyone looked to Remus. "It's not great news amongst the werewolves I'm afraid. The arrest of Warwick Farlowe has been a huge set back for their relations with wizards". Tonks gave a start. She knew that name. "I was the one who arrested him!" she exclaimed.  
"We had no choice.", said Mad-Eye.  
"We knew this would happen eventually." said Remus to her kindly. "The ministry has been heading down this path for a long time. Any news Emmeline?"  
"There's nothing we can do about the werewolf registry. I managed to lose it for a few days to buy us time; while Dedalus, Bill and I looked into ways to adjust it or break it; but the pressure to find it became insurmountable. I can only really prevent new names from being added to it." Remus gave a grim smile and Tonks realised why he wasn't available to work this weekend.

"He's being transferred to Azkaban after this weekend's full moon." said Madeye. "I've been able to swing it so that he gets an Auror transport. The ministry wanted to make an example of dark creatures that don’t follow the rules." An Auror escort was highly unusual for minor administrative offences thought Tonks. Then again so was his arrest on the trumped-up charges. Madeye looked over at Tonks. "Oh no. Not again." she said, returning his gaze. "Escorting him to Azkaban will break my heart. He's only 19. He was just a scared kid.” She saw Molly turn to look at Bill.

“Can I escort him elsewhere? Keep him out of Azkaban” she asked hopefully.

“No” growled Madeye. “We’ve done what we can. We can’t risk the rest of our operations”.

"I have something for you to give to him. It's a remedy that will help him keep sane amongst the dementors.” said Remus.

"Could we get him out of Azkaban?" asked Tonks, looking at Sirius.

"No" said Sirius.

"But... you did?" she said

"I got lucky." he replied.

"I'd be interested to know how." she retorted.

And then he stood up and turned himself into a dog.

Tonks stared at him.

"Well... that explains a lot." she said eventually. She looked over at Kingsley.

"The ministry doesn't know about that one yet." said Kingsley.

"Unfortunately, Voldemort does." said Remus.  
Tonks sat up straighter. She gave herself a black fuzzy face with dog ears and whiskers. "Not quite the same." she said with a shrug.. She'd now disclosed her particular talent. There was a stunned silence. She guessed Madeye, Kingsley and Dumbledore hadn't shared this piece of info with the group yet.

"Well that's new." said Arthur weakly. Remus and Bill looked like they were chuckling quietly. Sirius turned back to human form, took one look at her, and then barked a loud, surprised laugh which set the others off even more.

"I think we're done." said Dumbledore and got up to leave. As did most of the others. 

Sirius leaned back in his chair. "Is this?" she asked. "My house?" said Sirius. "Yeah it is. I'll have to give you the tour one day. Introduce you to your family"...


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tonks meets her family and the Heads of Houses learn about Umbridge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read The Mitford Girls by Nancy Mitford years ago and was interested when JK Rowling said she based Bellatrix, Narcissa and Andromeda on Unity, Diana and Decca Mitford. I’ve given Andromeda an interest in social justice issues, like Decca, because of this. And same as Decca, Andromeda has also written a book that created some controversy in its time.

"Mudblood! Shame of my flesh. Dishonour to the noble house of Black!"

Tonks watched the woman in the portrait shouting at her with a detached bemusement. She’d been called worse at her job, what with people tending to not like being arrested and all. Still, the verbal abuse wasn't quite what she had in mind when Sirius suggested she come over prior to the next meeting to look at some family photos he'd found. Sirius wrenched at the curtain of the shouting portrait before giving up and stepping back with his wand and firing spells to try and get them to close. "Stun the other portraits before they get going too!" he called to her over his shoulder. Together they worked to quieten the hallway. She picked up the umbrella stand she'd accidentally kicked over and Sirius pushed his hair back from his eyes.

"So that's my mum's Auntie?" she said nodding to where the now quiet painting was hidden back behind the curtains. "Was she always this friendly?"

"She dialled it up a notch with the language over time, but that's pretty much the essence of her."

"What about your Dad? Was he the same?" Sirius pointed at the portrait of a man she’d stunned, his handsome features trapped in a malevolent glare.  
"He was quieter about it then mum, but same ideas. Family gatherings were painful. Your mum hated it as much as I did. She used to sneak my brother and I off and play games with us. She was good fun, she would have been a good mum."

Tonks smiled and nodded. "She hated how she was raised. She tried to do differently with me, she didn't really trust her instincts though. I felt like a bit of a guinea pig at times."

"She wrote a book about it didn't she?" asked Sirius. "She wanted to ban using silencing charms on children. I vaguely remember the controversy."

"Yeah she did, the book was called 'Silence is Not Golden'. She never quite got there with the ban but she teaches new parenting and baby classes to try and educate against it." replied Tonks.

"I haven't seen her in years. We met up a couple of times after I ran off from home and we were both at Uncle Alphard's funeral. Once we left our families we kind of found our own people. You were a baby and then I went off doing Order stuff and once all that was over. Well, I wasn't around." he said.

She knew he was referring to Azkaban. She wanted to ask him about it but was worried about being nosy. "You guys should catch up again sometime." she said.

"One day." he replied. "Come through to the kitchen before these blasted paintings wake up again and I'll go grab the photos. You want a drink or a cuppa maybe?"

"I'd kill for a cuppa." she replied. She took a seat in the kitchen, gloomy in spite of the sunny, summer afternoon. "I'm still working out where everything is." he said opening cupboards. "I've tried ‘Accio’ in here but I end up breaking too many things when I use it.”

"Aha - there you are." he addressed the house elf who had just slid in from the side of one of the cupboards. "Kreacher, where's the teapot in this godforsaken mess of a kitchen." 

"Oh so Kreacher's good enough for searching but not good enough for making. Master wants to make tea himself. Master doesn't want a house elf. Master wants a common garden gnome for fetching at his bidding."

Tonks watched Kreacher with curiousity. "I've never been to anyone's house that has a house elf. Do they always talk to themselves like that?"

"Nah, that's just him." Sirius replied. "Milk, sugar?" he asked. 

"Just milk thanks." said Tonks and Sirius plonked down the milk on the table.

"Try asking him for something. He's meant to do what anyone in the family asks of him."

"You sure? Ok then. um.. Kreacher can I please have a mug?" she requested, hoping she was asking in the right way.

"Look at the nerve of her, ordering me about like she's got the right. Filthy blood traitor." Said Kreacher in a low voice.

He gave her a dirty look, opened a cupboard, handed Sirius a teapot and shuffled out muttering.

“Nutter." said Sirius.

"Looks like I'm not one of the family after all." she said with a grin. "And you look so cut up about it too" he replied tapping the teapot with his wand and putting it on the table. "back in a 'sec I'll go get those photos."

His footsteps died away and she relaxed in the chair. Suddenly she heard the front door quietly click shut, followed by footsteps treading softly down the hallway. She listened hard, ruling out Kreacher who wouldn’t have come through the front door and Sirius who she’d heard head upstairs to the upper floors. She knew the house was under Dumbledore's protection, but her training under Madeye kicked in. Moving carefully, she crept around the table until she was next to the entrance to the kitchen as a man descended the stairs quietly. Her wand was pointed at his heart as he stepped unawares through the doorway and into the kitchen. He froze when he realised she was there.

Sirius came thumping back down the stairs and paused when he saw the two of them in the kitchen. "Code phrase?" she asked. He gave it and she gave her reply.   
"That would have been a proud moment for Madeye." said Sirius to Tonks, clapping Remus on the shoulder as he squeezed past them. "Wasn't expecting you 'til later." said Sirius to him. "Had to leave the meetup early, I got recognised again." replied Remus, catching his breath back after his confrontation with Tonks, “The problems of being a werewolf spy when you’ve been publicly outed as a werewolf.” 

Sirius dropped the album he was carrying onto the table. She started flicking through the photos with interest, noting the old-fashioned clothes and stuffy portraits. Hard to believe that she was related to any of them. She found one photo of Sirius as a boy with his brother and their parents. With a sullen expression, a page-boy haircut and dressed in old-fashioned clothing, Sirius looked the fitting picture of a traditional wizard's son. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Remus glance over at Sirius. "And you can shut up." Sirius said to him. "I didn't say anything" he replied innocently, trying to hide a smirk. 

She also found one of her mum with her sisters. "I knew she looked a lot like her sisters, but it's really striking seeing them together like this. Occasionally people mixed her up with Bellatrix in public. She didn't like that much and used to dye her hair and try all sorts of crazy looks to make her appearance different. " Said Tonks, twirling a lock of hot pink hair around one finger. "Bellatrix was someone that the Order fought with, back in the days, wasn’t she?" she asked. "Yes. She was highly skilled and very committed to the cause." said Sirius. "I knew things were going on, that last time you-know-who was gaining power. Even as a kid you understand that everyone's afraid. Mum was really worried about what her sisters were getting into. Even though the family had kicked her out, she also wanted to cut ties with them to protect me and my Dad." "Good reason, you know why Bellatrix is in Azkaban, don't you?" asked Sirius. Tonks nodded. "Yeah that story's infamous amongst the Aurors."

Remus drained his mug of tea and excused himself to change from his travelling clothes while she and Sirius went through the rest of the album. Sirius didn't mince words about any of their relatives. "There's good reasons why I left. Your mum too." he said quietly.

The doorbell rang and she and Sirius went off to answer it and to quieten the portraits again. To their surprise their two former Heads of Houses from Hogwarts were at the threshold. Sirius greeted Minerva McGonagall and Pomona Sprout warmly, verifying their identity, while Tonks tried to stop the shouting from the portraits that had been awoken by the doorbell.

McGonagall looked taken aback by the language being thrown at them by Sirius’ mother’s portrait. "Walberga Black?" she asked Sirius, who confirmed with a grimace. "You know I never met with her and she never replied to a single letter I sent her the entire time you were in my House at Hogwarts."   
"Lucky you." said Sirius drily.  
"I hope we weren't interrupting anything." said Sprout "But Dumbledore called an emergency meeting for the Heads of Houses. I expect we'll see Filius and Severus shortly."

"Come on through. Tea, coffee?" offered Sirius.

Sirius snatched the album away from the table and busied himself with making more tea and finding teacups while Sprout asked Tonks what she'd been up to since she left school and trained as an Auror. "You have done well for yourself, I must say." she said proudly of her former student. "You sound surprised" said Tonks with a sheepish smile. "Not at all, knew you had it in you." she replied heartily.

Filius Flitwick and Severus Snape arrived and Sirius led them through. "Do you know what this is about?" Flitwick asked McGonagall. "No idea. Albus is at the ministry and sent word that he needed to meet with us urgently."

"The ministry? Sounds ominous." said Flitwick.

"How was your holiday?" asked Sprout. 

Flitwick, looking tanned and relaxed, told them about his travels while Sirius poured tea. Tonks had never sat amongst her old teachers casually like this before and was finding it a little unnerving. She turned her head and saw Remus step into the kitchen with a surprised look at the sight of the unexpected visitors. "Remus, good to see you again." said Flitwick, "Join us for a cuppa. We're just waiting for Albus. Emergency Head of House meeting."

Remus took a cup and looked at ease amongst them, while Filius finished his story. They didn't have much longer to wait. Remus, Tonks and Sirius looked at each other and stood up to leave the room as Dumbledore entered, but he held up his hand to stop them, "Please stay, it won't hurt to hear this and will save me repeating it later at the meeting."

"My apologies for being late everyone. I've spent most of the afternoon at the ministry trying to fend off all the people that want the Defence Against the Dark Arts position." said Dumbledore sitting down at the table. 

"Have we got someone." asked McGonagall.

"No. I disapproved of the option the ministry has found for us." replied Dumbledore.

"Since when has the ministry been able to appoint teachers at Hogwarts?" asked Snape.

"They can't. But they're threatening to introduce changes that will let them." said Dumbledore. "The board is also in favour of the ministry being able to intervene at the school. I cannot convince them otherwise and we appear to be running out of options."

"Who did they want to lump us with?" asked Sprout.

"Dolores Umbridge." said Dumbledore. Remus visibly reacted to the name and Flitwick shot him a look. "Never heard of her." said Sprout, looking at McGonagall who shrugged slightly, "Vaguely recall the name but can’t place her, not one of my House students at any rate". 

"Remus, judging your reaction you’ve heard of her. What can you tell us?" asked Flitwick. "Where to start.” Remus sighed. “She's been in charge of the Improper Use of Magic department for a couple of years. I admit I’ve nothing good to say. The few dealings I've had with her are mainly from the fallout after my time teaching at Hogwarts and my uncontained transition at the end." he paused, considering his words. "Being polite here, she's a nasty, brutal, bureaucratic nightmare. You really don't want the likes of her teaching at Hogwarts." said Remus looking directly at Dumbledore. 

Sirius' face now dawned in comprehension, "Ohh. That... um.. cow." he said carefully, shooting a look at his ex-Head of House. "Recognise the name now."

"I've never heard you speak against anyone as strongly as this Remus.” said McGonagall surprised. “What on earth could her interest be in teaching?" she asked, directing her question to Dumbledore.

"I don't believe her particular interest is in teaching." said Dumbledore. "She seemed to believe that teaching would be the easy part of the job. Her interest appears to be along the lines of educational reform."

"You're not making her sound any better than Remus was." said Sprout.

"I believe Remus has given us an accurate summary." said Dumbledore lightly.

"Sounds about as good a teacher we can expect in the Defence Against the Dark Arts position then," said Snape drily. Sirius’ expression darkened and he caught Remus’ eye, but Remus didn’t react. 

"Can we get you back teaching again, Remus?" asked Flitwick.

"No." he shook his head sadly "I can’t risk it. Besides it’s illegal now."

"You could go to Azkaban for teaching?" said McGonagall in astonishment. “What damn fool came up with that idea?”

"Dolores Umbridge as a matter of fact. Teaching, as well as a lot of other jobs, are now illegal for me." he said. "With her classification of half-breed now enshrined in law, I'm only half a step away from being allowed to legally use a wand at all."

McGonagall looked outraged. She was about to say something further but appeared to decide against it and there were a few moments of silence.  
"Any tips for dealing with her?," asked Flitwick.

Remus leaned back in his chair in thought. "Just.. like you’d do with any of the worst ministry bureaucrats. At least she'd only be at Hogwarts for a year." said Remus with a shrug.

"True. We don't call your old office the "Transit Lounge" for nothing." said Flitwick.

"We had a Deatheater last year, I'm sure we'll be able to handle this one if it comes to it." said Sprout.

"I'd prefer a Deatheater." said Remus darkly. "At least they're upfront about wanting you dead."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At first he was amused...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to those who struggle with difficulties in the education system :)

"Are we kicking on?" said Sirius. The meeting was over and almost everyone had filed out of Grimmauld Place leaving Sirius, Remus who was staying, Mundungus who'd nodded off in the corner, and Tonks who was lost in thought and still nursing the dregs in her goblet. 

Lupin grinned. "Why not. Want a top up Tonks?" he said holding out the bottle for her.

"Ah no I really should be, um hey you know what, sod it I could go another." she said decisively. 

"Can't believe that git became a teacher." said Sirius darkly.

"You still let him get to you" said Remus.

"You're not much better." said Sirius. "Snape in drag?" he added pointedly.

"Snape in what?" asked Tonks, looking up from her goblet. Remus filled her in on the story of his first boggart lesson at Hogwarts and she chuckled quietly. 

Sirius smiled, "I do enjoy that story." he said. "I think Mum might've had one of those hats." he added.

"You still got it?" asked Tonks.

"Dunno, it's probably upstairs in a closet somewhere. Hang on a 'mo." Sirius lazily flicked his wand, "Accio mum's stupid vulture hat."

There was a crash upstairs and a dusty witch’s hat, complete with mouldy ornamental vultures, flew into the kitchen. None more surprised than Sirius as he caught it and handed it to Tonks. "Knock yourself out." he said to her.

"Ta." said Tonks, giving it a flick with her wand to get the dust off and make sure there was nothing else lurking in it that could actually knock her out. She put it on, adjusted her features and gave a scarily accurate impersonation of Professor Snape giving a potions lesson.

Remus hadn't seen Sirius laugh so heartily in a while. "You were in Gryffindor, right?” she asked Sirius, “ I can do a pretty good McGonagall too." She removed the vulture hat and changed her features again. 

"Ok can you say 'Detention Mr Black'?" asked Lupin.

"Detention Mr Black", she replied in an impersonation of Professor McGonagall’s Scottish brogue.

"Uncanny." said Lupin with a smile.

"How about this one." said Sirius, pushing a piece of parchment to her he had been scribbling on. She read I to herself and then said, "When I told you to stop using magic in the corridors, I did not mean that sticking a wand up Severus' nose was a viable alternative."

"That was you?" she asked Sirius, who was laughing too hard to reply.

"Friend of ours." grinned Lupin.

Remus and Sirius had quite a lot of lines for Tonks to try after that.

"That would have been useful at school." said Sirius grinning at Remus..

"I used to get into a lot of trouble for it.” said Tonks, “I once spent a whole afternoon as Filch. Giving out detentions for things like breathing through the wrong nostril. Took everyone ages to work out it was me. They spoke to my parents after that one. Bit of a last straw thing." 

"You can't have been that bad at school." said Remus.

"Not sure I should admit this to a teacher," replied Tonks.

"ex-teacher," interrupted Remus. 

Tonks shot him a sympathetic look and continued, "but I was a terrible student. I didn't do much homework and mucked around a lot. They all thought I was a bit thick actually. Mum and dad were worried I was going to be asked to leave." she said.

"What changed?" asked Remus, "You're an Auror now and you need good grades for that." 

"Grew up a bit." shrugged Tonks. "Dad lost his job and money became tight. At about the same time Sprout got fed up trying to read my awful handwriting and got permission for me to use an Auto-quill. Loads of people use them these days, but they were quite new back then. I'd always found writing hard but once I could keep up with that I started doing better with the schoolwork. Everyone was surprised when I got quite a few good OWLS and then I went on to do really well in my NEWTS. Professor Snape still treats me like I'm an idiot though."

"He treats everyone like that." said Remus.

"I want to see that Snape again." said Sirius. "I've got some lines I'd like him to say." passing over another piece of parchment he'd been scrawling on.

Tonks took a sip of her drink, started reading and nearly spat it back out again. "I'm not saying THAT!" she exclaimed, pushing the parchment back across the table for Remus to read. Sirius roared with laughter, "Spoil sport" he said to her.

The next morning Remus woke with a thudding headache and a dry mouth. He was getting far too old for nights like that. Sirius was alone in the kitchen, Mundungus gone from his corner. Sirius with blood shot eyes but in a better mood than he'd seen him in a long time. 

"Bacon and eggs?" he asked Remus. Remus nodded in reply, "Where's Tonks?" he asked. "Left hours ago, she had to get to work." Sirius replied. 

"Oh god to be young again." groaned Remus as he sank into a chair. "Dunno what you mean old man" said Sirius yawning loudly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a close friend that couldn't keep up with taking notes during lectures as he wrote slowly. We used to sit together so that he could copy mine. He would sometimes have to interpret words for me because I couldn't hear them. One of those symbiotic friendships that meant we both got through our degrees. We were both undiagnosed at the time, but looking back he had features of hypermobility. With Tonks' clumsiness and ability to morph and move her features in unusual ways, it didn't feel like much of a stretch to include a downside to her extraodinary abilities. I also like the idea that the teachers are looking at ways to help their students. Tonks is obviously clever and good at magic, so similar to McGonagall getting permission for Hermione to try a time turner, I can imagine Sprout trying to find a way to help Tonks get her words on paper so she can make it through the education system.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Planning operations, Dedalus' style.... The Order is starting to pull together, planning their most important field operation yet.

"Right so we stun Harry and then strap him to a broom and take off with him before anyone notices." suggested Dedalus enthusiastically.

There was a shocked silence around the kitchen table at 12 Grimmauld Place. 

"They're going to notice that one." said Kingsley, the first to recover his voice after Dedalus' suggestion.

Sirius looked like he wanted to speak but appeared unable to make a coherent response to Dedalus. The news of Harry's dementor attack had added a new sense of danger and urgency to the Order meeting. Sirius had been especially restless, and Tonks wished Dumbledore was here to override some of the more outrageous suggestions and to also talk Sirius down from his ledge. However Dumbledore had already left after a brief appearance to give the go ahead to move Harry to Grimmauld Place as well as have a few strong words with Mundungus about not abandoning his post.

"We're not going to incapacitate him. The boy needs to be able to fight for his life if it comes to that." said Madeye, shooting down what everyone thought was a bad idea with one of his usual cheery scenarios. A bad idea to everyone but Dedalus, apparently.

"Broom's an idea though." said Remus eventually. "He's a good flyer and has a good broom" He looked over at Sirius, who had finally recovered from Dedalus' suggestion to give a nod in agreement. "He's excellent. As good as James even." Sirius added.

"We can't just burst into a muggle home and fly Harry out of there on brooms unannounced. It's not just his muggle relatives, who aren't the friendliest in my experience by the way, but Harry now knows enough magic to hurt someone if he doesn't know who they are." said Arthur.

"He needs someone he trusts and will go with. He barely knows most of us." added Kingsley.

"Would he trust you Madeye?" said Tonks "You were his teacher."

"Last time he saw me, or what looked like me, I was that deatheater scum trying to kill him."

"I'll go." said Sirius. "He is my godson." 

"He was attacked by dementors. This is much too risky for you Sirius." said Molly.

"He trusts me, and I can fly a broom well enough. Or even a hipogriff?" suggested Sirius hopefully.

"We're not taking a hipogriff into Little Whinging." said Madeye.

"Look, I could do it." said Arthur " Harry knows me. It's been a while since I've been on a broom though. Can't we portkey instead?"

"We can't use anything ministry regulated for this. We need to get him out quietly before the ministry can act against it." said Emmeline Vance. Another Order member who worked as a librarian in the Ministry Records Department.

"I can go." said Remus. "I was his teacher. He'll trust me."

Finally, some murmurs of agreement around the table.

"I still think it's a bad idea to just suddenly arrive and fly off like that. There's his relatives living there too." said Molly.

"We could obliviate them afterwards." said Kingsley. "I do it regularly enough at work."

"We don't need magic. We just need them out of the way." said Tonks.

"We're not going to murder his family just to get Harry away." said Madeye abruptly.

"Why on earth did you think I meant murder when I said we need them out of the way?" said Tonks incredulously.

"Well how else would you get them out of the way without magic or murder." replied Madeye.

"I was thinking of just inviting them to a party. Something they can't refuse." said Tonks, still looking at Madeye with a quizzical expression.

"Inviting to a party? What if they don't go?" said Kingsley sounding dubious.

"Come on, you've seen them. Everyone in this street has a European car, kids that go to expensive schools and neatly trimmed gardens. Harry's Uncle has the fanciest model of European car in the street, his kid goes to one of the most expensive schools in Britain and their garden has the neatest and straightest lawn of them all. "

Given the blank looks around the table, Tonks realised she still hadn't made her point effectively. "They're showy." she explained "They like to have something to brag about. We don't need magic or murder or threats. We invite them to something they can't refuse, fly Harry out of there, fully conscious, and leave his relatives a note. Keep it simple."

"Even I could manage that." said Sirius with an edge to his voice.

"Don't risk one hour when Harry will be here for a month." said Remus to him quietly. Remus being one of the few amongst them Tonks had noticed that could talk Sirius down to more reasonable actions.

"What sort of party would you invite them too?" asked Kingsley suspiciously. 

"Something so boring they couldn't possible not go. Like a 'best lawn growing' award function." she replied.

Kingsley looked at her baffled. "Nobody is going to go to a party like that." he said.

"Wanna bet?" retorted Tonks. 

"Ten galleons you're wrong." said Kingsley "And I'll obliviate them if you are." he added.

"So we have a plan. Dedalus, we leave on your signal, check for the usual - muggle aircraft, good cloud cover. We're going to need volunteers to fly guard. Show of hands?" asked Madeye looking around the table, "And I'm not counting you" he said pointedly to Sirius. 

"That's a lot of hands there. Good. That lawn thing had better work." growled Madeye looking over at Tonks. "Also, you'd better warn Potter you're a metamorphagus before we get him on a broom. Don't want you scaring the magic outta him like you nearly did to Arthur at your first meeting here."

"Mad-eye, you are just no fun." replied Tonks with a grin.

"Hmph." said Madeye. "Ten galleons you say?" he said to Kingsley "I'll wager." 

"Hey - I'm a junior Auror! I'm not paid well enough for twenty!" said Tonks.

"Hopefully Kingsley is." said Madeye.

"You're betting against me?" said Kingsley incredulously "You think this crackpot lawn thing will work?"

"I told you before, she's a bit less useless with this understanding people stuff than most."

"You flatterer! I had no idea you cared." said Tonks to Madeye, smiling cheekily. Madeye glared back at her.

"So, moving on from our Auror betting pools." said Arthur. "Emmeline, you told me earlier you had something."

"Yes. I've had an interesting pattern of Requests for Information from the Improper Use of Magic section. Duggar has a few requests in relating to wands and especially confiscated wands. Not usually the sort of information he asks for from the records office. He's normally looking for mermen info."

"We've linked Duggar to Dawlish, haven't we?" asked Sirius.

"Brother-in-law" said Emmeline, pushing one of the parchment sheets into the middle of the table. She had one of these pieces of parchment for each suspected death eater, collecting and collating data on locations, known associates, hobbies, anything that might help them identify patterns or connections. "Dumbledore was very interested in anyone looking for information on wands." she added. "I'm going to fill his request for information on Thursday this coming week. I can't delay any further and it gives us the weekend for surveillance to see if the information gets moved on."

"Duggar you say?" mumbled Mundungus. Tonks was surprised to hear him. She had thought he was asleep. "That ministry eejit over west way? You'll find that one easy. Couldn’t cast a security spell to save himself. Dead easy house to get into." There was a silence as everyone contemplated a job that might be a bit more interesting than lying in a ditch, staring out at nothing all evening. No one asked Mundungus how he knew Duggar's house was easy to break into.

"I can do the weekend" said Kingsley. "So can I." said Tonks. "And I." said Arthur. "And I." said Hestia.

"I can do Thursday," said Remus "but not the weekend." "Oh I can do Thursday too." said Dedalus smiling at Remus. Remus returned his smile but then shot an almost pained look at Sirius who grinned back at him. Tonks thought she understood what this look between them meant. Dedalus was incredibly good with charms. A genius really. He was even talking about combining charms so that a Patronus could actually talk. But given his impractical operation suggestions and strange ideas, she shuddered at the idea of working with him in the field.

"I know what you're thinking." said Madeye. "But no one is to go breaking into a Ministry employee's house."

"Going forward should we build more permanent teams? Let people get more used to working with one or two people." said Kingsley.

"That'll be next once we're not running 24/7 guard duty in Little Whinging." said Madeye. "There'll be rules though - same as last time for those that remember. I get final say on pairings. Only one Auror per team. No two parents of the same kid on one team. No two newbies together until they've been around a bit."

"So for next week, we've got Remus and Dedalus on Thurs night, Tonks and Hestia Friday, and Kingsley and Arthur on Saturday." Said Madeye. "And I know you're going to say it's too adhoc for surveillance Kingsley but it's what we've got for now. Aim of this one is to find out if someone on our deatheater list comes calling to Duggar’s shortly after Emmeline hands over that information. Next meeting we'll talk teams again. Let’s concentrate on getting Harry here first."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies on the long time between chapters. I wrote a lot of the material for this fic ages ago, but linking my bits and pieces together is proving to be a challenge. 
> 
> I really love the idea of a librarian being one of the cornerstones of the Order's success, so I've given that role to Emmeline. The stately witch that also volunteers to fly guard when extracting Harry. 
> 
> I also don't know why it always niggled at me that when we first meet Tonks in OotP she's already showing off her metamorphagus abilities to a kid she's never met who she's actually trying to get out of the house and safely to Grimmauld place. It gave me the immediate feeling that she was dropped into the book as a plot device than a real character that we get to know more of.
> 
> Bonus - one of Madeye's "Rules" for putting together Order teams happens to be one of the unwritten rules for some volunteer fire brigades. You might spot it :)

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter: coming soon!
> 
> I haven't done any creative writing for a very long time and am trying to catch up on grammar etc, my apologies for errors.


End file.
